There's a reason the VinYoga Festival is being held at the Altamont Vineyard and Winery. And it's not the wine.

"Here, I feel like there's a pause," Franca DiCrescenzo during a brief tour of her family's 26-acre vineyard and the setting for the upcoming event on Saturday, June 7.

DiCrescenzo held on to a large umbrella in a windy rainstorm while walking along paths that a 5K will be run to kick off the festival. Even with the weather, the view of the Helderbergs from the vineyard would give anyone pause.

"It's like a little bit of France in the Capital Region."

The "Vin" in VinYoga not only refers to the vineyard but also to vinyasa, the type of yoga she practices.

DiCrescenzo and her friends, all like-minded yoga lovers, are planning the first ever VinYoga Festival to bring together a community dedicated to helping people feel great. Dubbed as "A Taste of Local Wellness," the event is sponsored in part by MVP, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross' Armed Forces Care Services, which provides free yoga to vets.

The day will kick off with a 5K run through the vineyard and continue with a number of yoga classes, including several by internationally known Cameron Shayne, the founder of Budokon Yoga.

More Information

If you go

What: VinYoga Festival

Where: Altamont Vineyard & Winery is at 3001 Furbeck Road.

When: Saturday, June 7. 5K run begins at 9 a.m.

Cost: A ticket for the full festival, including yoga classes, is $40 in advance, $50 at the door.

A number of local instructors will also be on hand to teach varied yoga classes. In the evening, there will a "Moonlight Moving Meditation" and a drumming circle.

In a 3,000-square-foot tent overlooking a pond where there are geese and some new goslings, DiCrescenzo and co-organizer Lisa Coldwell O'Brien, a friend, yoga teacher and founder of Lifeyum.com, pointed out where classes would be held and where food vendors would set up.

O'Brien, who presents homeopathic remedies like some people offer mints, pulled allergy pellets out of her large designer bag and gave some to DiCrescenzo.

"I'd have my moments and then Lisa reminds me to breathe," said DiCrescenzo, the owner of Armida Rose Realty.

Another friend, Gina Tralongo, also a yoga teacher, said planning began about a year ago. "(DiCrescenzo) had this grand plan for kind of everybody who's an expert in their field all together for a day to try and grow our wellness community meaning anything from juicing — it's so big now — to yoga," she said.

"It's so beautiful there. You're on top of the mountain. I think it's going to be better than being in a studio. You're there in nature," Tralongo said. "It's a very peaceful environment up there already, so the whole thing about yoga is trying to come to that peace, so you're already there. Your yoga should be very easy ... just have fun with it, be there, you know, meet some new people and learn how this community is trying to grow and to really take your health in your own hands."

Hot Yoga Saratoga instructor Justin Wolfer will be teaching vinyasa yoga at the event. "I love to practice and to teach in different communities. It's sort of an amazing kind of phenomenon that yoga's popped up all over the world, and it's connected me to different places and people I never would've been able to connect with other than our love for yoga which is very, very cool."

There will also be wine tasting for those who wish to indulge, since it is a winery, after all.

"I totally recommend doing that after the yoga," Wolfer said. "I think for me that's not necessarily what interests me, but since it's on a vineyard, when in Rome, I guess. But totally I recommend doing the yoga first.

"If you're interested in tasting the wine, do it after the practice. Because I definitely enjoy doing a lot of inversions and different balances so it's good to have your head about you."